We Need Funny Friends

A complete revaluation takes place in your physical and mental being when you’ve laughed and had some fun.

CATHERINE PONDER

I laughed a lot today. I met two great people from two separate chapters of my life, and I was reminded of why we remain friends after all these years: We laugh together.

A call to confirm my first meeting this morning had me in stitches before I even left the house. I laughed out loud, actually startling myself a few times, during our meeting. The laughter continued all the way down the street to my car after our meeting. It continued during my lunch with an old friend from City News Bureau. She and I were raised on the South Side, and thanks to the double whammy of being Irish and Catholic, we spent a large part of our lives cloistering our feelings that were cloaked in guilt. That’s not the way today. We ripped off the veil. Our humor is most often found in our vulnerability and honesty. Today, we are probably too authentic for some.

My meetings were separate but the tone similar and feelings mutual. We are the best iteration of ourselves when we muse, speak, strategize, praise, criticize, and swear openly. In other words, just being ourselves. That includes being able to laugh, at, and with one another.

It brings me back to something I shared the other day. This has been on my refrigerator for 8 years.

Real Simple thoughts February 2009

When I look at the problems in this country and this world, I think it all comes down to people taking themselves too seriously combined with an absent sense of humor. Our longtime adherence to political correctness became a source of anger for many. It’s that anger that our current president tapped into; the same way our former president tapped into hope. The outcome is what it is. While many perceive the outcome of the presidential election as a negative, I think the awakening of women is a net positive.

At lunch, my friend asked where we would be “if Hillary was elected?” She said, we’d probably all not be paying attention. She’s spot on. The Women’s March would not have happened. Weinstein wouldn’t have mattered the same way. #MeToo would not be what it is. I’m confident that this uncomfortable if not unprecedented time in this country will end well.

Fast forward to a world where 51% of all leadership positions are held by women. A representative democracy* of genders. Women’s voices are equitably expressed (and valued) in all permutations of culture: art, politics, journalism, bowling leagues…

Why is this an important place to reach? Why change? I hope these are rhetorical questions for you. So I’m going to simply generalize: The World Will Be Better For Us. Prophets even say: all world problems will be solved.

I don’t know that this transition toward equal representation will happen before I die. I do know that in times like this, our friends really matter. We live in a time when you can’t make this shit up, therefore making it mandatory that we surround ourselves with the friends who really get us. They like our jokes, they love our twisted humor, they cherish our honesty and humility. They love us for who we are.

If you haven’t laughed in a while, please do so. I promise you’ll look at the world a little warmer than you did the moment before. And if you haven’t spoken to or seen a friend who has the ability to make you nearly pee your pants, please get in touch.

Seeing these two friends today made me appreciate my world a little bit more than I did this morning. My world is happier with them in it.